"Rory, they're here".

The words snapped her out of her reverie. Her finger froze on the page and she allowed a second for her mind to catch up. Luke. Nephew. Dinner. She slipped a well-worn bookmark in between the pages slowly. In her peripheral vision, she saw something black move into her doorway. She turned around as the book shut. He wasn't looking at her, eyes glancing around the room.

"Hey", she said with a bright smile, turning around,

"I'm Rory"

X

Without thought, he knew some rude comment would leave his mouth, probably 'I figured', or some variation. But then he was suddenly jolted into focus, as he realized he hadn't. Something had stopped the words from leaving his mouth, which was honestly a bit alarming. That had never happened before, didn't matter the circumstance nor person. Bewildered, his eyes met the girl sitting in the chair's. She had a bright smile on, and he felt ...something.

"Jess", he found himself saying. He didn't understand why, but it seemed to lack his usual 'I don't have to know you, I hate everyone' tone. He internally shook his head.

"Nice to meet you", he didn't reply, walking around and scanning the titles of all the books on the shelves. Again, he expected a remark to be spill from his lips, again, he found something stopping it from coming out.

X

He was looking at her books, bringing a hand up and ghosting over the spine of one.

"Oh, I read a lot", as soon as the words left her mouth, she felt stupid. Of course he could see that. While thinking she sounded stupid, more words spilled from her mouth before she could stop them, making her feel even more stupid,

"Do you read?", he turned to look at her just as he took the book from the shelf.

"Not much", he replied, glancing at the book and then opening the first page.

"I could loan you that, it's great", she desperately wished she could kick herself to stop the flow of words. He quickly shut the book and put it down,

"No thanks", he said, hands going to his pockets. She refrained from biting the inside of her mouth.

"Well if you change your mind", she didn't finish the sentence. Why couldn't she just stop the awkward vomit of words coming out of her mouth?! She watched him as he wandered over and stood in front of her, looking her in the eye, it looked like he wanted to say something.

"Okay, we really need to get Jackson away from the lemons now, so we're moving the feast into the living room.

X

"Be right there", she called as her mom turned away. He walked over to the window and examined it.

"So do these open?", he was sure this was the most he had said to her at once, and he found a part of him didn't mind that.

"Oh yeah, you just have to unlatch them and then push", her hands mimicked the actions as she spoke. He followed her instructions.

"Great. Shall we?"

"Shall we what?", he face showed a somewhat endearing confusion. What was up with him?

"Bail", he replied, although he wasn't really sure what was driving him to do this, it wasn't exactly his normal routine. Her eyes looked from left to right, as if searching for an explanation to what he just said.

"No", her voice made it sound like a question, but she sounded a bit offended.

"Why?", the question was out of his mouth before he could think it through.

"Because it's Tuesday night in Stars Hallow", she made it sound so obvious, but to her it probably was,

"There's nowhere to bail to, the 24 hour Minimart just closed 20 minutes ago", she was slipping into comfortable banter, why did that thought almost make him want to smile.

"So we'll walk around, or sit on a bench and stare at our shoes", he kept a serious face, even though they both knew he was joining in the banter - a tiny bit. She smiled.

"Look, Sookie just made a ton of really great food and I'm starving, and though it may not seem like it right at this moment it's gonna be fun", she seemed so convinced of that, it actually surprised him.

"Trust me", she finished.

"I don't even know you", he fired back.

"Well don't I look trustworthy?", she asked, not missing a beat. He found himself saying,

"Maybe". A genuine smile lit up her face and he felt that feeling bubble up again, what the hell?

"Okay good, let's go eat", she walked out the door and stopped and turned back to him, he hadn't moved.

"Coming?"

"Well, I did only say 'Maybe'". This seemed to leave her for once without a retort. He failed to fight down a smirk. An adorable look came over her face as she thought, analyzed him, and glanced around the room looking for inspiration.

"Okay, how about this. You come with me, and endure this dinner -which I promise will not be as bad as your thinking- and then we can sneak out any window you want -or possibly even a door- and go walk around and look at our shoes", he eyed her suspiciously, which was completely just for show.

"I promise?", she added when he still didn't reply.

"I better get the whole tour", he enjoyed the triumphant smile that filled her features.

"Well come on then. Soda?", he nodded, following her as she grabbed two cans from the fridge and led him through the archway into the living room.

"Hey", she said sitting down, he took the empty seat next to her.

"Do you eat pot roast?", he hadn't even properly sat down, the eager question caught him off guard. He turned to face the overly-smiley woman seated across from him.

"I can make some grilled cheese if you want?", the man beside her smiled, Jess just stared at her without saying anything. Rory nudged him under the table.

"Er, no. The pot roast is fine. Thanks", he added as an afterthought.

Luke stared at his nephew who was having some kind of silent communication with Rory who looked -smug? When was the last time he had seen Rory Gilmore look smug ?- as Sookie grinned at Jess and had a quick hushed conversation with Jackson.

"So Jess, what do you do in your spare time?", Lorelai asked, causing both teens to direct their attention to her. Jess just shrugged. Lorelei looked at a loss for how to respond.

"Oh come on, there must be something you enjoy doing", Rory interjected. Lorelai sent her a grateful smile, which she didn't seem to notice, focusing solely on Jess. A strange look came over the older Gilmore's face for a fraction of a second.

"Not really", he answered, Rory glared at him, although it was obvious there wasn't any malicious intent behind it .

Jess just smirked as he put his first forkful of food into his mouth.

X

"I better wash these then", Lorelai stated, standing up. Rory nodded and pushed in her chair, Jess followed her.

"So, as excruciating as you originally presumed?", he was tempted to lie, and he usually would, but something made him reply honestly.

"So maybe it wasn't the worst dinner I've ever been to", he didn't look at her knowing smile.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure I was promised the grand tour?", Rory rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Hey Mom, I'm gonna show Jess the town, we'll be back in a bit", Lorelei said something he couldn't hear and then Rory grabbed her coat off of the coat stand,

"Come on, let's go", he felt the urge to grin, which he ignored again as he followed her out the door.

X

"And that's Doose's market. You'll hear all about Taylor from Luke, so I'll leave your imagination run wild until then", she finished, leaning against the gazebo,

"So how much of that did you get", Jess raised an eyebrow at her and she grinned. Sighing, he turned around to where they had first started.

"Well over there's the dance studio. Watch out for Ms Patty. Al's Pancake World. Doesn't sell pancakes...", as he listed off every single building, Rory just stared at him. She wished he would speak more, for the first time she had the chance to realize what a nice voice Jess had. It was really smooth and quiet, and it had a certain rhythmic melody to it. How long could she just stand there staring at his face and listening to that voice?

"... And that over there is the house that landed on the witch, and Dorothy knew she had landed in Oz", blinking, Rory focused and met his smug eyes.

"Oh, uh, sorry", she muttered, knowing her cheeks were red. She let a piece of hair fall over her face as she avoided his gaze, staring at the ground as she waited for her face to cool down. She almost jumped when a soft hand tucked the hair back behind her ear. Startled, her eyes snapped up to his face. He was looking at her, like he was examining her, yet she kind of liked it. Her blue orbs locked with his dark ones and she felt a jolt run down her spine, breath hitching. They stayed like that, neither moving.

"So, anywhere else in this place to see?", he whispered, abruptly breaking the spell.

Rory took a minute to gather her thoughts.

"Well, there's the bridge", her voice came out in a hoarse whispered, she blushed and cleared her throat.

"The bridge. This way", she walked in front of him at a fast pace, he followed with a small, hidden smile.

X

"I come here when I want to read. Surprisingly, most people avoid the bridge, choosing the shortcut. Unless I'm actually in a rush, I always walk across it though. I'm pretty sure half of the people here don't even know it exists, not that I mind". She walked over and sat down, legs dangling above the water. After a moment, Jess joined her. They sat in a comfortable silence.

"So really, what do you do in your spare time?", she asked turning to him with an expression of curiosity. He laughed lightly to himself,

"A bit of this and that", she noticed the bitter edge to his tone and chose to ignore it.

"Ah, yes, I personally prefer doing mostly that, but a bit of this is good to shake things up once in a while", he looked at her with what she wanted to say was amusement, but he hid his emotions behind this mask - which she hated, but hey, she'd only met the guy a few hours ago.

She glanced down at her watch,

"Woah! We should get back, I had no idea how long we spent out here!", she stood up and brushed down her jeans. Jess pulled up his sleave to see his own watch.

"Huh".

X

As they walked, Rory found the time going to the back of her mind, and her fast pace slowed down to a leisurely stroll. By the time they got back to the house, she was grinning, and he had a -small- smile/smirk on his face.

"You two took your time", Lorelai called from the doorway.

"Sorry, Mom. Lost track of time, but Jess knows every building now, and even some insider tips", Lorelai watched as he rolled his eyes, failing to stop the tiny way his lips turned up, and Rory shot him a mock-hurt face. Something went shooting through her heart.

"We should be leaving now, anyway. Thanks again, Lorelai", Luke said, emerging from behind her. He smiled and gave Rory a brief nod as he walked past.

"See you, then", Jess muttered, turning to follow his uncle. Rory grinned again,

"Yeah, see you", and with that she went inside, but couldn't help but watch as Jess' figure walked around the corner. Lorelai frowned.

X

So that's the first chapter. Just to establish, Rory is dating Dean at this current point in time. It's funny how things could have turned out so different, I much prefer this ending ;). Please review, I want to know your thoughts. -Crys